PC Developer Discussions: Alpha 17

[Aldranon]

Can the knife be modded with iron pipes to make a spear? ��

This is top on many peoples list of things they would make in an apocalypse.

In the game it might be too easy unless they increase the reaction time of the zombie AI. I guess a slow attack using a heavy spear would be the answer. But I'd use it 1v1 on anything not using a firearm!

 

[Sy Tarn]

actually making spears with flint rock is actually pretty easy, no need to sacrifice a knife for that.

besides why the heck would you want to make something harder then it has to be in game. you already make arrows. it would be easier to make a larger version of that which costs more resources. an arrow head more wood and feathers.

then an even larger version that goes into a balistae

also i still want a trebuchet.

that is all.

 

[Roland]

I wouldnt put too much faith in mr. "Everdeen" lol

You’ve cut me deeply. Everdeen was real and is awesome. Granted, it isn’t nearly as much fun to watch as it is to fire those arrows yourself and see them stick into your enemies and there is no retrieval hooked up as of yet but it was a real clue for a real feature.

Was my oversight of a month purposeful? Maaaaay-be....

 

[skullpoker]

Can the knife be modded with iron pipes to make a spear?

Heck yeah! Spear 'em through the eye sockets like your name is skullpoker™!

 

[wolfbain5]

What about your soul?

his/her soul belongs to microsoft now.

 

[Laz Man]

You’ve cut me deeply. Everdeen was real and is awesome. Granted, it isn’t nearly as much fun to watch as it is to fire those arrows yourself and see them stick into your enemies and there is no retrieval hooked up as of yet but it was a real clue for a real feature.
Was my oversight of a month purposeful? Maaaaay-be....

I apologize, i couldnt help sticking it to our man on fire.

 

[Crater Creator]

Also I saw in vid that there were food and water bars in his hud...so are they in again? Never noticed if it was mentioned somewhere.

Indeed they are! It's the same buff icons we've always had (making them easy to miss), but now they seem to stay on permanently. I do hope they're here to stay, and just waiting on a UI art pass.

Moon;798891']There's a easy way out of this "line".
Add a [on] [of] option on gun crafting. In fact there are mods out there that make gun crafting really hard and you can only mostly obtain it from exploring.

Honestly for me they should only deal with gun crafting stuff when they actually define the line between early - mid - end game content. Everything should be a option. This way people can really customize the way they wanna play the game.

My idea for :


Early game content = guns should be extreme rare or never sapwn. Same goes for bullets. first week or two for example should be most focused on swords,pikes,bows,xbows and handmade traps. People should be exploring and not finding a pistol and 532989 ammo on day 1. Guns and ammo blueprint should be locked.


Mid game : Guns can be found now and same for bullets. Still cant be crafted since guns and blueprint should be still locked. this should be the transition from early game and end game. In this part people should be still exploring, leveling up, learning things. week 3 or 4.


end game : guns can be crafted and same as bullets. Advanced things like crafting bikes,cars or anything military grade for example should only be allowed on this part of the game. For example a after 4 or 5 weeks.

Part of being a sandbox game is that players define their own priorities and thus have a lot of control over what is early, mid, or late game content. To the point, the longer players are "locked" out from guns, the less freedom they have to play the game their own way. Of course, things should be balanced, so that more effort yields better stuff. But as Kinyajuu alluded to, making a beeline for guns in how you loot and spend skill points, at the expense of other material and skills you could be acquiring in that time, should be allowed.

Add this to the Action0 on blunderbluss
<property name="Sound_start" value="bullethitcloth" />

see its not hard

I'm sure Maharin was joking about how silly a suppressor would look on the end of the blunderbuss, rather than actually looking to mod the audio.

 

[sillls]

his/her soul belongs to microsoft now.

Ouch! That Hurts. Good thing Maharin AKA Yoda here is, one with the force!

 

[DaVegaNL]

Umm, ish. When you press shift, it turns run on. You can leave your finger on it if you want. It won't do a single thing at all, but you can leave your finger on it for kicks. Then, after you stop moving, you walk again.

Nice!

 

[Crater Creator]

What catches my attention the most in the last video is when Madmole says “Sean’s working on the AI and the pathing right now." I'd be very interested in more detail on what the goal of this work is.

Certain areas of the game, like underground and stilt bases, can't be made engaging, challenging, or balanced with the tools available in Alpha 16. It seems apparent that systems will need to be added or overhauled to fill this fundamental design shortfall. But, in Beta, you don't add or overhaul major systems, basically by definition.

So as the "Alpha 17 = Beta" narrative continues, I have to hope as-yet-unannounced work on AI is geared towards addressing this. There are a lot of things that could go post-release, but I don't think gameplay fundamentals - like engagement, challenge, and balance throughout the game's domain - should be among them.

 

[DaVegaNL]

What catches my attention the most in the last video is when Madmole says “Sean’s working on the AI and the pathing right now." I'd be very interested in more detail on what the goal of this work is.
Certain areas of the game, like underground and stilt bases, can't be made engaging, challenging, or balanced with the tools available in Alpha 16. It seems apparent that systems will need to be added or overhauled to fill this fundamental design shortfall. But, in Beta, you don't add or overhaul major systems, basically by definition.

So as the "Alpha 17 = Beta" narrative continues, I have to hope as-yet-unannounced work on AI is geared towards addressing this. There are a lot of things that could go post-release, but I don't think gameplay fundamentals - like engagement, challenge, and balance throughout the game's domain - should be among them.

Hear, bloody hear.

 

[SnowDog1942]

What catches my attention the most in the last video is when Madmole says “Sean’s working on the AI and the pathing right now." I'd be very interested in more detail on what the goal of this work is.
Certain areas of the game, like underground and stilt bases, can't be made engaging, challenging, or balanced with the tools available in Alpha 16. It seems apparent that systems will need to be added or overhauled to fill this fundamental design shortfall. But, in Beta, you don't add or overhaul major systems, basically by definition.

So as the "Alpha 17 = Beta" narrative continues, I have to hope as-yet-unannounced work on AI is geared towards addressing this. There are a lot of things that could go post-release, but I don't think gameplay fundamentals - like engagement, challenge, and balance throughout the game's domain - should be among them.

I remember people insulting me when I took MM seriously a while back when he said A17 is basicay so Id like to say to u all... I TOLD YOU SO...idgets

 

[Kam R.]

Question:

Seeing quality levels indication has been cut down to those 6 color coded tiers on guns – Will that be the case for all other item types like tools and clothes/armor too?

And is it safe to assume that's the end of workbench combining?

 

[meganoth]

So as the "Alpha 17 = Beta" narrative continues,

I think the video made it clear (to me at least) that MM has his own definition of the word "beta" and that definition is certainly different to my definition of the word. But that's okay, the "beta" in games development was used in so many different ways the only common meaning left is "not yet finished"

On top of that comes the fact that they decided to not do a alpha/beta turnover in development. They will probably just devote more and more time to polishing and just rule A17 or A18 as 1.0 final. Or after doing lots of polishing in A17 (or A18?) add a minimal beta phase and shove it out the door.

 

[DaVegaNL]

I think the video made it clear (to me at least) that MM has his own definition of the word "beta" and that definition is certainly different to my definition of the word. But that's okay, the "beta" in games development was used in so many different ways the only common meaning left is "not yet finished"
On top of that comes the fact that they decided to not do a alpha/beta turnover in development. They will probably just devote more and more time to polishing and just rule A17 or A18 as 1.0 final. Or after doing lots of polishing in A17 (or A18?) add a minimal beta phase and shove it out the door.

Well.. MadMole says A17 is Beta. So I think he means A17 = Beta = 1.0.. But I guess people will read many different things into his statement, suited to their wishes/views.

 

[sillls]

Hey Roland, TFP's. How close are we to a content lock?

 

[beerfly]

Hey Roland, TFP's are close are we to a content lock?

SInce most of the bits from the videos are testing versions, maybe there is a time to wait. Saying A17 is beta, could be a beta for A17 itself, not the whole game

 

[meganoth]

Well.. MadMole says A17 is Beta. So I think he means A17 = Beta = 1.0.. But I guess people will read many different things into his statement, suited to their wishes/views.

Correct me if I'm wrong but in the video MM said something like: "We did so many fundamental changes and overhauls and stuff this A17 it is practically a beta". Now I have bad hearing (really), so it wouldn't surprise me if I just didn't understand his words acoustically there. But if it really is what he said, then his definition is clearly not the definition of beta I'm usually using. Also it isn't the one you are using as you define beta as the last version before release.

So I simply choose to ignore that beta remark and when A17 is released I will find out if an A18 or beta will be done next or not.

 

[DaVegaNL]

SInce most of the bits from the videos are testing versions, maybe there is a time to wait. Saying A17 is beta, could be a beta for A17 itself, not the whole game

To be honest, by quoting MadMole in his video (at 12:47 mark), he says "A17 is basically gonna be Beta". And then he talks about that they improved/changed a lot of mechanics. So I'm pretty sure he's not talking about the 'beta-phase of A17', but about A17 actually gonna be the Beta.

 

[Gnomaana]

So I simply choose to ignore that beta remark and when A17 is released I will find out if an A18 or beta will be done next or not.

Well, if you are going to do something reasonable like that I'm not sure we can allow you to stay on the forums. If you aren't willing to cut one word out of a video of someone just randomly chatting while trying to show you something unrelated in the game and then decide it means the world will end next Tuesday, why are you even here?